Science Credibility

Thursday, May 19, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Now more than ever we need science to guide us, but in today's politics even science is under attack. Here are some videos illustrating the problem:

• Jimmy Kimmel on climate denial
• John Oliver on science hype
• Ben Goldacre on fudging science

Internet Playground

Thursday, May 12, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Are all those viral videos on the Internet just a bunch of silliness, or can it lead to anything important? For our next meeting we will see some TED talks about why people love viral videos and how they can lead to unintentional usefulness.

• Kevin Allocca - Why videos go viral
• Charlie Todd - Improv Everywhere
• Magda Sayeg - Yarn Bombing
• Chris Anderson - How web video powers global innovation
• Eric Whitacre - Internet Choir

The Last WHCD

Thursday, May 5, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Obama hosted his last White House Correspondents Dinner last Saturday. He did not disappoint. The WHCD is called the Nerd Prom for a good reason. You need to be very familiar with current events the get the jokes. We will review Obama's talk so we can pickup the jokes we missed.

Here are clips from other WHCD:

• Collection of the best moments of past WHCD 
• Trump moments from the 2011 dinner
• My pick of Obama's best moments not in other videos we already seen

Also, the song played at the beginning of Obama's talk at the 2016 WHCD, is When I'm Gone. See if it captures the emotion of Obama's leaving the White House:

The above song, also know as Cups, has a fascinating HISTORY.

Autism Diversity

Thursday, April 28, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Autism has touched many of us, including some in our group. The perceived autism epidemic was blamed on vaccines; we now know otherwise. There is wide diversity among autistics. High functioning autistics have succeeded because of their condition. As for the rest, new research and technology offer hope.

For this meeting we will view these TED Talks about autism:

• Steve Silberman traces the history of autism, how it was always there but hidden
• Temple Grandin is a successful autistic who say we need the diversity that autistic provide
• Wendy Chung summarizes our current understanding of autism and hope for the future

The Fight for Zika Funding

Thursday, April 21, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Obama is trying to get Congress to appropriate emergency funding to fight the Zika virus expected to be a crisis this summer. This should have been a no-brainer but Congress is refusing to go along. As summer approaches, the situation is becoming urgent and Obama's press secretary Josh Ernest is stepping up the pressure on Congress.

The story is finally getting in mainstream media, as shown HERE, but it does not capture the full nature of this needless battle. I collected clips, primarily from the White House press briefings, which shows how the story developed, HERE.

---------------------- Update 4/21/16 -------------------

Here are the other videos shown at the meeting:

• Pregnant woman worried about Zika after Puerto Rico trip
• Climate change could increase the spread of Zika virus
• Zika Virus Outbreak and the 2016 Brazil Olympic Games
• Zika Virus Forces Female Athletes to Consider Sitting Out Olympics
• Zika virus in Brazil and Rio Olympics dangers precautions fears
• Political turmoil (Brazil)
• New Rule – Bloodsucker Proxy

The Maryland Primary

Thursday, April 14, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

It seems that the Maryland primary will actual play a pivotal role in the presidential race for both parties. HERE is the latest poll. There is certainly much to discuss about the presidential race, but there are also other important races on the ballot. The race for Barbara Mikulski's Senate seat, is focused on Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen; HERE is the latest poll. The other races can be found HERE.

I do not have any video's planned for this meeting, so please come prepared If you have any issues about the primaries that you want to discuss, please comment on this blog so we can do some research before the meeting.

Update on Gun Control

Thursday, April 7, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

There has been some interesting developments on the issue of Gun Control, not about another major shooting.

• For the first time there was a TED Talk about gun control, HERE. TED represents what some very influential people are thinking about and typically avoids controversial topics.We may be near a breakthrough in gun control legislation.
• There is also local interest in the Maryland ban on assault weapons working through the courts, combined with the Republican Senate refusing to act on Scalia's replacement on the Supreme Court. HERE is a video montage which summarizes the situation.
• Finally, there is still some nutty stuff going on in the presidential race like THIS petition to allow open carry at the Republican convention. Or THIS Ben Carson suggestion on how to prevent school shootings.